Dow Coating Materials (DCM), one of the world’s largest coatings raw materials suppliers to architectural and industrial coatings market, has recently upgraded its Jebel Ali manufacturing facility in the UAE to transform it into a new, state-of-the-art specialty coatings manufacturing facility.

“DCM has incredible growth potential for specialty coating materials in the Middle East region and has established its dedicated, local team over the last few years to support this growth,” Simone El Henoud, specifications marketing manager, Dow Coating Material told Gulf Industry.

Located in the Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority (Jafza) in Dubai, UAE, DCM’s Jebel Ali facility is one of the two manufacturing assets the company has in the Middle East and Africa, more than any other Dow business unit. The site provides customers in the Middle East with a local supply source for the most advanced and sustainable coating materials.

Its other regional manufacturing unit located in New Germany near Durban in South Africa, was acquired as part of the Rohm & Haas acquisition in 2009.

In addition to these facilities, DCM also has a regional research and development (R&D) unit: Dow has a coatings-focused lab at the King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia as part of its partnership with the school, as well as applications and testing labs in Jebel Ali, Dubai.

PRODUCT RANGE

“DCM leads innovation in technologies that help advance the performance of paints and coating,” said Henoud.

Its water-based acrylic emulsion technology, for instance, revolutionised the global paint industry, a broad portfolio of binders, dispersants, rheology modifiers and surfactants for a wide variety of end markets.

Henoud: DCM leads innovation in technologies

“Highly experienced, regional technical teams support our products, and we continue to strengthen our global supply chain through manufacturing excellence and reliable supply,” she added.

From advanced hiding technologies to extreme exposure testing, Dow constantly rethink every aspect of the ways in which coatings can perform better and enhance our infrastructure and our lives.

Some of the innovations include: low-volatile organic compounds (VOCs) solutions for architectural and industrial coatings; advanced hiding technology; rheology modifiers and dispersants for all water-borne applications; key ingredients for light industrial and wood coatings, traffic paint, and OEM applications; and formaldehyde abatement technology to improve indoor quality in buildings.

FOCUS ON IAQ

A company with a global manufacturing footprint, Dow said it understands the regional market needs affecting its industry today. Towards that, DCM plans to put emphasis on technology designed to improve indoor air quality (IAQ) in 2017.

“Maintaining indoor air quality is a growing concern across the Middle East, as people spend more time indoors and new insulation/air sealing methods are used to improve energy efficiency. Concerns and issues about IAQ are a growing trend that lies at the intersection of two global megatrends: energy conservation and health awareness,” Henoud commented.

“An area of focus for us in 2017 will be to address the improvement of air quality. Technologies from Dow Coating Materials – based on binders with abating functionality – are well positioned to have a positive impact on IAQ. They target specific volatiles that are irreversibly transformed into harmless compounds,” she added.

DCM’s innovations for interior wall paints include a new binder technology that facilitates the formulation of low odour, low VOC, good performance interior wall paints that help to reduce significantly the amount of aldehydes in the interior air. The technology assists paint manufacturers to offer functional coatings that can help to purify the indoor air yielding benefits for the inhabitants while helping building owners comply with new regulations. Lab tests show that paints based on this binder technology can lower formaldehyde concentrations by 80 per cent or more. The abatement is irreversible and water is the only by-product of the chemical reaction.

“Dow is a technology leader and one of the largest suppliers of emulsions technology for decorative paints in the world. Our portfolio for interior wall paints delivers application ease, performance, efficiency, cost and regulatory compliance,” stated Henoud.

CARING FOR ENVIRONMENT

In a booming construction market, the priority remains to source quality paint and coatings materials that also meet increasingly demanding environmental standards – like ultra-low VOC, APEO-free, and formaldehyde-free formulations.

Building on the legacy of the Paint Quality Institute (PQI) – founded in 1989 in Philadelphia with the initial goal of educating industry stakeholders on the advantages of using the highest paint and coatings quality materials – Dow Coating Materials (DCM) has launched in 2016 its PQI Middle East smartphone application, an iOS/Android enabled platform that gives customers instant access to expert advice and support.